R.W. Emerson Knew His Shit

Essays: First Series

From History

In old Rome the public roads beginning at the Forum proceeded north, south, east, west, to the centre of every province of the empire, making each market-town of Persia, Spain, and Britain pervious to the soldiers of the capital: so out of the human heart go, as it were, highways to the heart of every object in nature, to reduce it under the dominion of man.
A man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and fruitage is the world.

From Self-Reliance

Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.--'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.'--Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I can't get no respect.

What I need to find out is why people like to think they can be totally disrespectful to me. It's like a pattern is forming. I get close to someone, things seem to be going well, and then 'poof' they disappear. No decency, no goodbye, no warning whatsoever...they're just gone. And they expect me to be okay with that? What am I supposed to do just lie down and take it? Do I give off that impression? Am I a pushover? Granted, I try and be accommodating, to be understanding, laid-back and easygoing, because, well, that's what I look for in another person. I mean I'm a big believer in that whole "do unto others" golden rule. So yeah I try to be a nice guy, especially when I really like the person, but still they just disappear, they won't talk to me, they won't give me a reason, they're just gone.

I feel like I always have to be the bigger person, the mature one. I just have to take the punches because I'm a good guy and I know better. But come on people, can I get just a little respect?

Here are my rules for dating:

1. We go out. Whoever picks the venue does the paying...if you go out more than once then payment should be traded-off.
2. If things go well after a couple dates then we talk about whether we're interested in becoming exclusive.
3. If things aren't going well, for either of us, and we have dated each other more than once then communication is a MUST. We have the responsibility of telling each other that it's just not working for ANY reason...it's not like we're committed yet, so either person has a right to pull out whenever they want. But be cool and make sure to communicate it, don't just disappear!
4. If we decide to become exclusive then regular rules for relationships apply.

My #1 rule is to ALWAYS COMMUNICATE! As long as you are being honest then I don't care what you say, because it's always better than just going away and not saying anything at all.

Listening to God

So in order to try and get on with my work today and try and satiate these emotions that distract me, I'm going to try and write them out.

When you want something you are guaranteeing that you won't have it, ever. For as long as you want something you cannot have it because the want itself is a declaration of your personal lack. But this lacking that you have is an illusion for there is nothing that you do not have and there is nothing that you cannot do. The realization and knowing of this will change your life. Simply believing it is not enough, you must know it and see it in yourself, your life, and everything around you.

Know that you have EVERYTHING. There is nothing that you cannot have, do, or overcome as long as you choose it as an expression of Who You Really Are. Pain comes from actions that deny Who You Are. All pain and trouble you have results as a separation from Who You Are, and when you deny Yourself, you deny God, for the two are one in the same. So also as you deny God, you deny Yourself.

This pain I feel is of my own creation. I have not lost some part of myself, and I have not been rejected. I must always ask myself, "What Would Love Do Now?" And in asking this I must also remember that:

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, for it knows that there is no such thing as right and wrong. Love bears all things, knows all things, endures all things, embraces all things, yet forgives nothing, for love knows that nothing and no one needs to be forgiven."

I must be patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, arrogant, or rude. I must not be controlling, irritable, or hold resent. I will not rejoice at wrong, for there is no such thing as right and wrong. I must bear all that you do, embrace all that you do, and endure all that you do. And I realize that nothing you do need ever be forgiven. Love, real love, love for all people, for all mankind, is unconditional. My love, if it is REAL love, for my friends, family, lovers, and all people is unconditional. I will NEVER stop loving you, all of you, for to stop loving you would be a denial of Who I Really Am.

So when I say that I want you, I am in fact saying that I do not have you. That is what causes me pain, my feeling of lack. However the simple, wonderful, and liberating truth is that I lack nothing. It is there as long as I choose to see it. Focus on the positive, always look for the positive. Look for the good in every situation, I promise you that it is there, always, everywhere. This is hard to do, believe me I know it is difficult. But have faith and know that God has already provided everything you need, in fact he has already solved your problem for you. Let go of your troubles and go within, for if you do not go within, then you go without.

If I do not go within, then I go without. Go within, and in all you do, come from within. Come from God, express Who You Really Are.

An old quote from my MySpace, a million years ago

From The New Revelations by Neale Donald Walsch:

"People are returned to themselves when they are allowed to think their own highest thought about themselves, and to announce it. You give people back to themselves when you announce it for them. Do not let a moment go by in which you have an opportunity to tell someone how magnificent they are. Do not let an opportunity pass in which you may offer praise. Give people the gift of self-esteem, and you will have given them a gift that many cannot find a way to give themselves. Yet when they find themselves through you, and return to their own most glorious vision and their own grandest idea of who they really are, they are lost no more, for you have returned them to themselves. Once they were lost, but now they are found.

To change people's behavior, change people's ideas about themselves. To change people's ideas about themselves, change their beliefs about Life and about God. If you think that you were born in sin, are a sinner now, and will be a sinner always, how are you most likely to act? Yet if you believe that you are One with God, that you walk in step with the Divine, how, then, will you behave?

I tell you this: You are an angel. You are the angel for whom someone is waiting today."

God sends us nothing but angels.

So I finished my book...at Java City not Coles

From Friendship With God by Neale Donald Walsch:

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, for it knows that there is no such thing as right and wrong. Love bears all things, knows all things, endures all things, embraces all things, yet forgives nothing, for love knows that nothing and no one needs to be forgiven." p415

"Life is eternal, and there is only One of Us. These two truths summarize everything, and change everything.

Life is eternal, and there is only One of Us. These two truths are all you will ever need to know." p406

So now I'm just waiting for my new books, Conversations With God Bk 1, 2, & 3, to get here. In case you are interested at all Neale Donald Walsch has also authored numerous other books. After the 3 books of the CWG series I plan on reading Communion With God. All his books come highly recommended by me and millions of others. Read them in order or out of order, makes no difference. But if you are ready and willing to transcend yourself then look 'em up. You can find them all pretty cheap online and even at the Strand if you happen to live in NYC :)

I'll close with a favorite quote from the film V for Vendetta:

"But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you."